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Cnotes Wednesday's NHL Best Bets !

Montreal Canadiens Suffering Early-Season Slump

Coach Jacques Martin is hearing it from the demanding fans in Montreal.
Much like past seasons, the 2011-12 NHL campaign has commenced in a familiar fashion in that we’ve seen a hangover of sorts for teams that advanced the deepest in the Stanley Cup playoffs a season ago.

Indeed, neither of last June’s finalists, Boston nor Vancouver, has much resembled themselves from last spring. Neither, for that matter, have conference finalists Tampa Bay and San Jose, also looking to gain traction after choppy beginnings to the campaign.

Following are looks at teams in trouble and on the rise around the league as we move into November. Division standings and point totals are through October 25.

In trouble: Montreal (1-5-2, 4 points, 5th in Northeast)
It’s only late October but already coach Jacques Martin is hearing it from the demanding fans of Les Habitants who cannot tolerate losing streaks that reach six games, especially this early in the season. The Canadiens are struggling with injuries, among the infirmed C Scott Gomez and now winger Max Pacioretty, hardly welcome developments for a team struggling to score goals. Potent winger Mike Cammalleri has also missed action in October as Montreal has scored just 18 goals in eight games. Could Martin be in trouble if the slump continues into November?

On the rise: Colorado (6-2-0, 12 points, 1st in Northwest)
Raise your hand if you saw this quick start coming for Colorado, which has included an astounding six straight wins on the road to begin the season. Success at Calgary on Wednesday night would mean the Avs would become only the seventh team in league history to win its first seven games on the road. Defense and goaltending were main problems a year ago when allowing an NHL-high 288 goals, issues addressed by GM Greg Sherman in the offseason. Ex-Caps backup GK Semyon Varmulov, however, has emerged as the surprise number one keeper ahead of J.S. Giguere. This team has won three shootouts already, however, so we wonder if good fortune has also been mixed in with the good results.

In trouble: Columbus (1-7-1, 3 points, 5th in Central)
It took almost three weeks for the Blue Jackets to net their first win, which didn’t come until Tuesday night against a Red Wings side minus GK Jimmy Howard. Goal scoring and power play failures continue to be problems, and the broken foot suffered by offseason addition C Jeff Carter from the Flyers isn’t helping matters. Nor is GK Steve Mason’s (3.25 GAA) rather slow start. There’s hope that the return to the lineup of defender James Wisniewski, who had a commanding presence on the ice in the win over the Red Wings, will signal better things to come, but still a long way to go for the Jackets.

On the rise: Washington (7-0-0, 134 points, 1st in Southeast)
Things can’t be going any better than they are for the Caps, which is a big relief to coach Bruce Boudreau, who came into the season under some pressure. Veteran offseason additions such as Joel Ward, Troy Brouwer, Jeff Halpern, and GK Tomas Vokun have solidified the clubhouse and relieved the likes of Alex Ovechkin of worrying about that sort of role on the team. Ward, Brouwer, and Halpern have had practical implications, too, as no longer is it sufficient to simply shut down the Ovechkin line to beat the Caps. The team is deep and explosive and having lots of fun, something the Red Wings found out to their chagrin in a 7-1 loss last Saturday.

In trouble: Winnipeg (2-5-1, 5 points, 5th in Northwest)
No one was expecting too much from the old Thrashers in their reincarnation of Jets II in Winnipeg. What has been a bit disappointing for the Jets is their poor form on the road where they have yet to win a game, as their only two successes have come in front of the appreciative fans at MTS Center, welcoming the NHL back to Manitoba after 15 years. And things don’t get easier with several road trips to the far-flung Southeast Division before realigning next year. Lack of depth on the lines and Dustin Byfuglien’s off-ice problems have not helped. And 18-year-old center phenom Mark Scheifele is not ready to be a saviour just yet, recently sent back to the Ontario Hockey League’s Barrie Colts.

On the rise: Toronto (5-2-1, 11 points, 1st in Northeast)
The Leafs rate as a legitimate surprise package in the early going. Toronto has been getting good work in goal from James Reimer, although he has wobbled a bit in the last week, and coach Ron Wilson might be looking to add some backup help between the nets. Wilson’s main job this season was to cobble together a couple of productive lines in order to save his job, but thus far all he has needed is the explosive winger Phil Kessel, off to a blazing start and leading the league in points (15) and goals (9).

Always remember the 3 G's Girls,Golf, Gambling not in any particular order......:2thumbs:

PHILADELPHIA (5-2-0-1, 11 pts.) at MONTREAL (1-5-0-2, 4 pts.) - 10/26/2011, 7:30 PM
Top Trends for this game.
PHILADELPHIA is 193-195 ATS (-74.2 Units) after a win by 2 goals or more since 1996.
MONTREAL is 69-55 ATS (+128.0 Units) after 3 or more consecutive losses since 1996.
MONTREAL is 1-7 ATS (-13.7 Units) in all games this season.
MONTREAL is 1-7 ATS (-7.8 Units) first half of the season this season.

Head-to-Head Series History
PHILADELPHIA is 9-4 (+4.4 Units) against the spread versus MONTREAL over the last 3 seasons
PHILADELPHIA is 9-4-0 straight up against MONTREAL over the last 3 seasons
7 of 13 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Under=+0.7 Units)

COLORADO (6-2-0-0, 12 pts.) at CALGARY (2-4-0-1, 5 pts.) - 10/26/2011, 9:00 PM
Top Trends for this game.
COLORADO is 6-0 ATS (+6.0 Units) in a road game where where the total is 5.5 this season.
COLORADO is 6-0 ATS (+6.0 Units) in road games first half of the season this season.

Head-to-Head Series History
CALGARY is 7-5-0 straight up against COLORADO over the last 3 seasons
8 of 12 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Under=+4.1 Units)

ST LOUIS (4-4-0-0, 8 pts.) at VANCOUVER (4-3-0-1, 9 pts.) - 10/26/2011, 10:00 PM
Top Trends for this game.
ST LOUIS is 70-61 ATS (+139.5 Units) in road games after a non-conference game since 1996.

Head-to-Head Series History
ST LOUIS is 4-4 (+1.6 Units) against the spread versus VANCOUVER over the last 3 seasons
VANCOUVER is 4-4-0 straight up against ST LOUIS over the last 3 seasons
6 of 8 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Under=+3.7 Units)

With the Montreal Canadiens off to their worst start in 70 years, the last thing they needed was more bad news.

Turns out their leading scorer, Max Pacioretty, is going to be on the shelf for a while. A number of different news outlets are reporting that he has a ligament problem in his wrist, but the team has yet to confirm that. Pacioretty has two goals and four assists in eight games this season and the team is starting to get desperate.

"That was one of the things I spoke to the team about this morning, where we are right now and what we need to do to make the playoffs," coach Jacques Martin told reporters Tuesday. "I was trying to bring some urgency. In reality, we think we'll need 96 points to make the playoffs, which was our total last year. I wanted to be sure they see what it looks like. So we're conscious of it, and we need to act in order to correct this."

Meanwhile, the Flyers are facing their first adversity of the year after jumping out to a 5-2-1 record. Jaromir Jagr scored a pair of goals and assisted on another to help the Flyers to a 4-2 win over Toronto Monday, but captain Chris Pronger suffered an eye injury and will miss at least two or three weeks.

Even without Pronger, the Flyers are way deeper than Montreal.

Pick: Flyers

Colorado Avalanche at Calgary Flames (-125, 5.5)

Life on the road often has a way of bringing a young team together. So far that’s exactly what’s happening with the Colorado Avalanche.

Colorado gave up a 3-1 lead at Chicago Saturday, but Gabriel Landeskong sent the game to overtime with a goal with 1:48 left in regulation. The Avalanche ended up earning their sixth straight win in the shootout.

“It’s always nice to be on the road with the boys,” defenseman Shane O’Brien told reporters. “We’ve got a good group of guys in here. Everyone gets along with everyone. They have fun coming to the rink. Right now, we’re road warriors, so we’re going to try to continue that.”

The Flames have just six goals in their last four games and could have a tough time containing Colorado’s speedy attack. Nice value on the underdog here.

Pick: Avalanche

Always remember the 3 G's Girls,Golf, Gambling not in any particular order......:2thumbs:

Philadelphia at Montreal
The Flyers look to build on their 8-2 record in their last 10 games as a road favorite of -110 to -150. Philadelphia is the pick (-140) according to Dunkel, which has the Flyers favored by 1. Dunkel Pick: Philadelphia (-140). Here are all of today's picks.

7:30 PM
PHILADELPHIA vs. MONTREAL
The total has gone OVER in 9 of Philadelphia's last 12 games on the road
Philadelphia is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games when playing Montreal
Montreal is 0-5 SU in its last 5 games at home
Montreal is 0-5 SU in its last 5 games

10:00 PM
COLORADO vs. CALGARY
Colorado is 4-2 SU in its last 6 games when playing on the road against Calgary
The total has gone UNDER in 10 of Colorado's last 13 games when playing on the road against Calgary
Calgary is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing Colorado
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Calgary's last 6 games when playing Colorado

10:00 PM
ST. LOUIS vs. VANCOUVER
St. Louis is 6-13 SU in its last 19 games when playing Vancouver
St. Louis is 6-17-2 SU in its last 25 games ,when playing on the road against Vancouver
The total has gone UNDER in 15 of Vancouver's last 22 games at home
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Vancouver's last 5 games when playing St. Louis

Always remember the 3 G's Girls,Golf, Gambling not in any particular order......:2thumbs:

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